Macbook Air - not enough space to upgrade to Monterey

Question

Level 1

4 points

Macbook Air - not enough space to upgrade to Monterey

I have cleaned files, cache and reduced applications to a minimum but still am around 30gig short. The frustrating thing is that there is 34gig 'other' in files that I cannot access or see to remove. I have followed numerous you tube vids and can see the Library, system files etc but the files in there are nowhere near the 34gig, so I really have no idea what the files are made up of. I have used Cleaner One Pro but it only goes so far without charges and Clean My Mac X is too expensive. Can anyone offer any support or suggestions?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 4, 2025 9:18 AM

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Answer 1

tbirdvet

Level 6

17,030 points

Mar 4, 2025 10:24 AM in response to PhilT1705

Those "other" are controlled by the OS and you cannot change those. You can move your large files like Photos, movies, music to an external then update your system then move them back if so desired.

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Answer 2

Owl-53

Level 10

102,193 points

Mar 5, 2025 2:00 AM in response to PhilT1705

From another similar question regarding lack of Space on the drive

refer to posting by respected contributor @ D.I. Johnson

Mojave-'system' takes up 800gb, why? - Apple Community

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Answer 3

PhilT1705 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 4, 2025 1:08 PM in response to tbirdvet

Thanks for that, was hoping for some better news but if that's how it is then I will have to find another way. Just one question, the size of 'other' is 34gig, does this seem high or about what it should be? My other option is to remove applications until install is complete then reinstall. Appreciate your help.

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